Buy the book! This massive tome offers a reasonably comprehensive overview of the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Welcome to Good Nintentions, a chronological survey of the Nintendo Entertainment System’s library.
According to Nintendo, this was the very first American NES release in the Donkey Kong series. Somehow.
The game that defined the NES, redefined Mario, and had a permanent impact on the shape of video games. It’s kind of a big deal.
The second of NES’s (technically) third-party day-one titles, this American football sim seemed a natural fit for the U.S. launch.
A showcase for the NES’s Trojan horse peripheral R.O.B., Gyromite is in fact a lot more fun than it really needed to be.
Less a game than an interactive demo for R.O.B., Stack-Up feels rushed out the door moreso than any other NES launch title.
The Robot Operating Buddy! R.O.B. has an interesting history, considering the way Nintendo abandoned him almost immediately.
Irem’s Jackie Chan-based arcade brawler was the first of two third-party releases to be brought under Nintendo’s wing for the NES launch.
Playing the role of demolition worker, this was Mario’s final dilettante outing before settling down into a career as the Mushroom Kingdom’s hero.
Leap to the pinnacle of the mountain, alone or with a friend, in order to rescue abducted eggplants from a dino-bird. 8-bit games were weird, man.
An odd, belated attempt to clone Pac-Man that nevertheless has its own interesting legacy.
The third Nintendo light gun release, largely forgotten by history but still good fun.
Debuting right as game designers mastered translating the sport into video form, Golf became one of Nintendo’s more influential creations.
The comical hunting game whose popularity in America encouraged Nintendo to press ahead with plans to take the Famicom console abroad.
Nintendo’s debut title for its light gun peripheral, based on an innovative film-based arcade installation from the ’70s.
A light gun peripheral built on the concepts of best-selling pre-video Nintendo toys from the 1970s, included as a pack-in with American consoles.
A basic but timeless interpretation of video gaming’s coin-op granddaddy, Pinball gave programming prodigy Satoru Iwata a foot in the door at NCL.
The first NES game ever to reach American shores, Tennis has a remarkable pedigree for such a simple game.
Nintendo’s “first” NES game, Baseball feels sadly simplistic compared to modern takes on the sport. Top-tier stuff back in ’83, though!